With the indictment of George Santos’s staffer, End Citizens United is calling attention to Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s complicity in this illegal scheme.
In August 2021, then-Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and his staff were informed that George Santos’s campaign was illegally impersonating McCarthy’s chief of staff to solicit campaign contributions.
McCarthy admitted he was informed, yet he chose to let a criminal run loose. Worse, McCarthy actively backed Santos’ 2022 campaign well after learning of the crimes and Santos’s lies.
He had a duty to report Santos, but instead, he helped keep it quiet and allowed Santos’s corruption to persist.
See below for coverage of McCarthy’s role in NY Daily News.
New York Daily News: Staffer for Rep. George Santos charged with impersonating aide to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to raise funds
John Annese
08/16/2023
Key Points:
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The FEC complaint, filed by Democrat-aligned political action committee End Citizens United, called for an investigation against Miele, Santos and the campaign’s treasurer, Nancy Marks.
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Bawadden Sayed, the group’s national spokesman, called the alleged scheme “a brazen and foolish plot.”
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“Santos and Miele knew exactly what they were doing, and they successfully conned unsuspecting donors out of hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said.
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In its complaint, End Citizens United also called out McCarthy, pointing to a Washington Times article that reported his aides knew about the impersonation as early as August 2021 — months before Santos’ election to Congress.
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“Although Kevin McCarthy was the victim of fraud, he deserves a lot of credit for allowing Santos’ fraud to persist,” Sayed said Wednesday. “He was aware of this scheme as early as August 2021 and helped keep it quiet. He shares a lot of the blame.”
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When asked about the impersonation, McCarthy said in January, “You know, I didn’t know about that. It happened and I know they connected, but I was not notified about that until a later date.”
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McCarthy’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did a lawyer for Santos.
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